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Who’s “winning” the fiscal battle? (Hint: not the people)

Well, it happened. Congress compromised and our national nightmare is…postponed for another month, when this all happens again.

There are plenty of articles breaking down the gains and losses, like this great one from Mike Lux and this one from Bob Borosage. There’s plenty that has been accomplished, and plenty more that Congress still has to deal with in a month. And there have been plenty of reactions from both sides of the aisle on the deal. The one that caught my eye was from New Jersey Governor and fleece-pullover model Chris Christie, because he really hit the nail on the head.

America deserves better than just another example of a government that has forgotten who they are there to serve, and why.

Governor Christie, you took the words right out of my mouth.

There’s been more reporting on which side is winning the fiscal debate than there has been on how this will all affect working and middle class families. Every story is about Obama’s bargaining chips stacking up against Boehner’s, how Cantor is pushing on one side and Biden is pushing on another. There have been Plan As and Plan Bs, and talks and sequesters, and winners and losers.

And different senators and congresspeople have come forward to talk about how their side is winning, like this gem from Oklahoma Representative Tom Cole:

Again, I would prefer not to raise taxes on anybody. But we protected almost every American. We did it at a higher income level than the President campaigned on. And again, frankly, we’ve denied him I think his most important piece of leverage in any negotiation going forward. So I particularly like that part.

No mention of his constituents – just that he was really excited they denied President Obama leverage in arguing about these matters further.

Oh, Republican leadership. You haven’t made huge strides to include people, and this is a step further in that direction. In your quest to keep taxes down for top earners, you were holding your breath and being petulant children about this deal – even though you received far more concessions than you should have. I appreciate that everyone tried to make this deal happen, but it shouldn’t have. It’s the “fetch” of policy compromises. And instead of really sitting down and coming up with a deal that would benefit the most Americans and bring our economy back, you kicked the can to February, where we have to watch this nonsense play out again. So thanks a lot.